The Winding Roadmap of Biomarkers Toward Clinic: Lessons from Predictors of Resistance to Anti-EGFRs in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

In the evolving molecular landscape of metastatic colorectal cancer, optimizing available tools to select patients to receive anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) monoclonal antibodies is a modern challenge of colorectal oncologists. Several molecular biomarkers have been investigated in recent years as potential predictors of resistance to anti-EGFR agents in preclinical and clinical retrospective series. Nevertheless, none of them have been implemented in clinical practice due to the lack of a formal prospective demonstration. Here, we propose a literature review of molecular alterations associated with resistance to anti-EGFRs, underlining the reasons why their roadmap from laboratories to clinics was prematurely halted.

Keywords

• metastatic colorectal cancer
• biomarkers
• anti-EGFR agents
• primary resistance
• negative selection